Increasing percentage of non-cancer diagnosis led by
debility and dementia

Increasing number of hospice programs (5,500)

Increasing percentage of for-profit hospice programs

Increase in Inpatient Hospice (GIP) days

Declining satisfaction rates (although still high)

*NHPCO revised some of their past estimates of
total patients served and is currently using a line graph with confidence
intervals instead of a bar graph with a single number. At the end they have an Appendix which
explains the data sources and the estimates.

I find this to be a very helpful guide to understanding end
of life care in the United States and have shared and discussed it in IDG and
with organizational leadership. It
serves as a helpful benchmark for a hospice program (in addition to the annual PEPPER
reports) compared to national standards. It is also extremely helpful for
presentations as you always want to make sure you are using the most up to date
statistics on hospice care. How do you
use the NHPCO Facts and Figures?

I always thought it would be good to have a nice public spreadsheet with all the data from the past NHPCO Facts and Figures. (Although the report is copyrighted which we respect, it seems like a good crowdsourcing or Open Data project.) To save you from having to search for past PDFs I have listed all the ones I am familiar with here. Download them before the links are broken! (If anyone has them from
earlier please send them to me or add the link in the comments)

Pallimed: A Hospice & Palliative Medicine Blog Founded June 8, 2005.
This blog is a labor of love whose only mission is educational. Its content is strictly the work of its authors and has no affiliation with or support from any organization or institution, including the authors' employers. All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of its authors.
In addition, all opinions expressed on this blog are probably wrong, and should never be taken as medical advice in any form.